The Economy of Brazil, India and China
Introduction
The BRIC countries are popular for altering the normal economy attention which was earlier on attributed to the G7 countries. This new era of economic development has seen Brazil, Russia, India and China which are developing countries taking over the position of he developed countries in the international business centre. This has been due to reasons which are specific to each country, as well as, a shift the common notion of an advanced economy. The BRIC as a unit covers 25% of the total land in the world with 40% of the entire population being residents of these four countries, in addition to, a combined GDP of 15.435 trillion dollars. These attributes makes the four countries the fastest growing, as well as, the biggest emerging markets in the international scene.
Discussion
The economy of the four countries
Brazil
The Brazilian economy is the eighth largest in the world in terms of nominal GDP and is the largest in South America hence making it the second largest in the western hemisphere after the United States of America. Among the world economies, Brazil is categorized as one of the fastest growing with an annual GDP growth rate of 5% which is around R$ 2.9 trillion dollars (R is the Brazilian currency known as “Reais”). The market status of Brazil a free market and the economy is inward-oriented (O’Neill, 2008).
Brazil is a member of different economic organizations such as Mercosul, G20 and G8+5 where various transactions are carried involving a higher percentage of exports mainly manufactured goods, as well as, imports of raw materials. The main partners in international trade are Latin America, Asia, the European Union and the United States.
Major sectors in the economy
The most profitable sector is that of service which contributes 66.8% of the total GDP where banking and telecommunications takes up the highest share of the total service sector. The industrial sector contributes 29.7% with the implementation of advanced technology and the heavy engineering plants all over the country. The agricultural sector is third position with 3.5% of the GDP making the economy self-sustaining. The sectors of the industry employ 100.77 million workers both casual and permanent with the service sector taking 71% of the total labor force (Marr and Reynard 2010).
The Russian economy
The Russian economy is placed twelfth in the world with the 7th largest purchasing power parity. The overall GDP in the country is approximated at $1.227 trillion Russian Ruble that is made possible by the numerous economic partners such as APEC, G8, G-20 and EURASEC. Most of the Russian economy has been attributed to the rich agricultures soils, extensive reservoirs of natural gas oil, coals and other precious metals. These are exported all over the world thus making Russia a major exporter of natural resources.
The collapse of the Soviet Union could have been a blessing in disguise as it enabled Russia as a single entity to venture into the international market by encouraging the subsequent privatization of most firms and adoption of free market system (Marr, 2010).
Major sectors in the economy
The defense industry is the most significant in the Russian economy accounting for more than 20% of the entire population of workers with exports of arms and other defense weapons being quite high. The aircraft and electronics sectors are also profitable although agriculture is not as advanced as in Brazil (O’Neill, 2008).
The Indian Economy
India is the eleventh largest economy in the world in terms of nominal GDP while its purchasing power parity is placed at number forum in the world. The Indian economy has undergone extreme changes to integrate a free market and producing large numbers of skilled professionals, in addition to, the large pool of human labor that is present in the country as brain drain is unheard of in India. The national currency is the Indian Rupee and as at the close of 2009, the GDP was $1.250 trillion much of which is from the expansive service sector. The industrial sector accounts for 28% of the total GDP while the agricultural sector contributes 17% of the Indian economy GDP (Marr, 2010).
The economy of China
The economy of China is categorized as the second largest globally after the United States with a GDP of $4.99 trillion. The national currency is the Renminbi (RMB) which has been significant in truing China into the largest exporter in the world and the second largest importer of raw materials. Despite the fact that the Chinese economy has been through a lot of challenges, such as labor shortage, economic corruption and environmental issues, it has been able to maintain a steady regional market that was substantial at penetrating the global market (O’Neill, 2008).
China as a country is one of the world’s largest producer and consumer of agricultural products with all the arable land in the country being used to cultivate rice and other cereals. The mining industry is also lucrative for natural resources such as oil, coal and energy. However, the most advanced sector is the manufacturing and engineering sector which contributes 46.8% of the total Chinese economy GDP (Marr, 2010).
Reasons why the BRIC countries are growing in importance
The BRIC countries occupy much geographical land hence they have more space to introduce more manufacturing plants or else more land to carry out explorations such as mining. This is exhibited by the way through which the individual countries have made use of each and every corner of their land hence maximizing on land use.
The other reason as to why the economies have been able to gain recognition from the developed countries is their willingness to embrace the advanced technology such that most of their most profitable industries have employed modern technology hence production is quite efficient. This has given the economies a chance to train their employees on ways of using less manpower and more machine power to increase production in all sectors of the industry (O’Neill, 2008).
The ability to maintain peace and political stability in their countries, as well as, less interference in the activities of others countries political affairs could be another possible reason as to why the BRIC countries have gained global economic importance. By maintaining such friendly relations with their neighbors and trading partners, more economies in the international market have aroused their desire to transact with the BRIC countries (Marr, 2010).
Conclusion
The BRIC countries as single entities have made tremendous moves to enhance their significance and position in the global market by laying strategies which are lucrative for international business. Similarly, the bloc has also made it possible for the members to cut a niche for themselves in the international market thus making them more important in the global economies scene.
References
Marr, J. and Reynard, C. (2010), Investing in Emerging Markets: The BRIC Economies and Beyond. John Wiley and Sons
O’Neill, J. (2008), BRICs could point the way out of the Economic Mire, Financial Times, London, September 23, 2008, p. 28.
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